Cotton lap-head.



0. L. OWEN.

GOTTON LAP HEAD.

APILIOATION FILED NOV. 20, 1903.

Patented Feb. 7, 1911.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

THE NORRIS PETERS cm, wlsmnaron, D. c.

' Patented Feb.'?, 1911.

2 SHEETSSHBET 2.

THE mamas PETERS 00., WASHINGTON, a c.

UNITED STATESEEEN T QFTCE.

OSCAR L. OWEN, OF WHITINSVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE W'HITIN MACHINE WORKS, OF WHITINSVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAS- SACHUSETTS.

COTTON LAP-HEAD.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR L. OWEN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at WVhitinsville, in the county of lVorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton Lap-Heads, of which the following is a full, true, and concise speciiication.

The invention is an improvement in lapheads or machines for winding ribbons or laps of cotton into rolls such as are used to supply combing or other machines, and the purpose of the improvement is to enable such machines to produce, satisfactorily, larger rolls of lap, that is to say, rolls of larger diameter, than have hitherto been practically obtained therefrom.

The invention is capable of application to existing machines without rearrangement or addition of extra parts, and is herein shown as applied to an ordinary cotton laphead of familiar construction.

Figure 1 of the drawings filed herewith shows a side elevation of such a machine, and Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal. section thereof, suflicient to indicate the application of my invention thereto.

The cotton lap, supplied from the usual set of drawing rolls A, passes over the feedapron B and from thence to the core ,or spool C upon which it is to be wound, as indicated in the drawing. The spool receives its rotary motion from the two winding drums J and K upon which it is supported, and is guided at its ends by the vertical ways D, D, so that it may rise as the lap rolled upon itincreases in size. Pressure is applied to the roll during the process of winding by means of the depending rack-bar E which is connected to the spool shaft and engaged by the presser mechanism F. The winding drums J and K are carried respectively on the cross-shafts H and G, and the latter are geared together by means of their gears H G and the idler I so that when power is applied, the said drums rotate in the same direction and with equal angular velocities. The foregoing construction and its manner of operation are well known and will be recognized by those familiar in this art.

Prior to my invention and so far as I am aware, the rolls of lap formed on apparatus answering to the above descriptlon or oper- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 20, 1908.

Patented Feb. '7, 1911. Serial No. 463,565.

ating in the same way, have been limited in diameter to about 10-}- inches, and any material excess of such dimension has resulted in the sticking or merging together of the convolutions of the roll to such an extent as to destroy or seriously disturb the continuity and evenness of the unrolled la and hence to destroy the usefulness of the roll as a source of supply. I have found that a certain relationship can be established between the two winding drums J and K, the other conditions remaining the same, which will permit the winding of the lap to be safely and satisfactorily continued until the diameter materially exceeds 10,;- inches, the increase thus obtained in the diameter representing relatively a much larger increase in the amount of cotton contained in the roll, since the latter is proportional to the difference in the squares of the old and the increased diameters. In carrying out my invention 1 provide the forward winding drum, marked K, with a slightly larger total peripheral surface than the surface of the rear drum J, by forming on it a series of longitudinal scorings or flutes such as are common to this class of machine and as shown on the drum K in Fig. 2, while the other or rear drum is unfluted and smooth or polished. By thus adjusting the surface proportions of the two drums, their diameters remaining the same, a material improvement is at once effected in the firmness of the product roll, and the layers or convolutions thereof are found to be well de fined and cleanly separable, at diameters exceeding 10 inches, but the best results and larger diameters can be obtained by a further adjustment of proportions which consists in slightly reducing the diameter of the forward drum K (measured from the top of the flutes) so that while its total peripheral surface area, including the flutes, may still remain larger than, or equal to, the total surface of the smooth rear drum, its surface speed will be somewhat less, due to the decrease in its diameterthe gears G and H continuing to have equal angular motion as above stated. For machines of standard size, diameters of 16;}; inches for the forward fluted drum and 16% inches for the rear smooth drum, will produce in practice satisfactory lap rolls of 1611- to 17 or more inches in diameter, as compared with a maximum diameter of about 10!; inches from the old machine under the same conditions, as above stated. For this dimension,

the flutes on the forward drum may be inch deep by inch wide and spaced apart 5 about 5 inch as usual. It will be observed that the difference in the surface speeds of the two drums is represented by the ratio of their diameters, that is to say, the ratio of 16% to 16%.

1c The result above described is believed to be due to the superior purchase which the forward drum has upon the cotton roll by reason of its fluted surface, whereby a slight amount of slippage is caused to take place lf between the smooth drum and the lap, re-

sulting in a smoothing efl'ec't on the latter,

, which tends to keep each of the several layers distinct and separate from adjacent layers.

What I claim is the following:

1. The combination in a cotton lap head of a fluted forward winding drum and an unfluted rear winding drum, said drums serving jointly to support the roll of lap ;?and impart rotary motion thereto.

2. The combination in a cotton lap-head, of two winding drums forming the support and driving means for the roll of cotton lap,

the forward of said drums being fluted and 'Z 'having a less surface speed than the other drum. Y

3. The combination in a cotton lap-head,

of twowinding drums adapted for jointly 7 supporting and driving the roll of lap, the

forward winding drum having a total peripheral surface equal to orgreater than that of the rear drum and having a less surface speed than said drum.

4. In a cotton lap-head, the combination of two winding drums adapted for jointly supporting and rotating the roll of lap, the surface speed of the forward drum bearing relation to the surface speed of the rear drum,insubstantially the ratio of 16;; to 16%.

5.'In a cotton lap-head, the combination of two winding drums adapted for jointly supporting and rotating the roll of lap, and having equal angular movement, the forward drum being fluted and having its diameter proportioned to the diameter of the rear drum in substantially the ratio of 16-1: to 16%.

6. In a cotton lap-head, the combination with the forward winding drum having a total peripheral surface equal to or greater than the surface of the rear winding drum, and having a less diameter than said rear drum. In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to the specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

- OSCAR L. OWEN. 

